[Dixielandjazz] Mississippi Rag Website edition

[LeslieMRag at aol.com]

Dear Listmates:
 
A friend forwarded to me the following e-mail which Don Jones sent out as a  
mass e-mail regarding The Mississippi Rag. It contains erroneous information  
which I feel I must address since some of you may have received it. This is 
the  e-mail that was sent:
 
 
"In case you haven't seen it yet, here's the link to the Mississippi Rag's  
Special Website Edition introducing their new format.

_http://www.mississippirag.com/ragnovdec06/index.html_ 
(http://www.mississippirag.com/ragnovdec06/index.html) 

It seems very short on editiorial content compared to their former printed  
product. Perhaps that will change with the complete first edition in  January.
Do any of you have any idea of what their annual subscription rate will be  
and their ad rates for this format? A 3-month trial subscription will be  $6.
What is your impression of this approach?

Best regards,
Generating Success Through Teamwork
Don Jones,  Publisher - The American  Rag"

 
Back to me: On the RAG's website (_www.mississippirag.com_ 
(http://www.mississippirag.com) ), I make it very  clear on the first page of the "Special 
Website Edition" that it is NOT the  format we will use for the Online RAG (which 
is in magazine format and  available only to subscribers). The "Special Website 
Edition" is  an INTERIM WEBSITE EDITION available to everyone and put on our  
website to publicize festivals, "Onstage" listings and ads sent to the RAG  
during our publishing hiatus in November and December as we get ready to launch 
 the new Online RAG in January. Don Jones' e-mail states that what we have  
on our website is our new format -- what the Online RAG will look when, in 
fact,  the Special Edition look is completely different (geared for website  
browsing) and it's not anywhere near the length of the upcoming Online RAG.  
(That's why it's called a "Special Website Edition MINI-RAG.)  The  January Online 
RAG  is nearly ready to go to the online distributor for  processing. It's 46 
pages long, is loaded with color (including on ads), has all  our usual 
columns, book and CD reviews, an historical feature on a mystery  composer, coverage 
of the recently deceased Jay McShann and Kenny  Davern, coverage of British 
festivals, the West Coast Ragtime festival and  the Suncoast festival, plus the 
usual festival and onstage listings. "The  Ragtime Machine" returns in the 
February RAG, along catch-up festival coverage  from last summer and fall, a 
feature on a Count Basie musician, coverage of  recent festivals, and lots more.
 
 For the record, here's what I wrote to introduce the interim  mini-RAG:
 
"SPECIAL WEBSITE EDITION MINI-RAG
The Mississippi Rag is undergoing a transition, converting our 33-year-old  
international RAG from a print tabloid to an electronic magazine, scheduled to  
launch in January 2007 and available by subscription only. As we get ready 
for  our January debut, however, we want to support events occurring between now 
and  the new year, so we've prepared this Special Website Edition Mini-Rag. 
The  format differs from that of the upcoming magazine, but the contents offer  
everyone a small taste of the RAG's reviews, listings and news for free. 
Enjoy!  And please click here for a subscription to the new Online Mississippi  
Rag."
 
Back to this e-mail again: Sorry to take up space on this list with this  
matter, but since I'm not sure who's received the misleading information, I felt  
I needed to clarify things. A trial subscription rate is offered because I 
need  to see how the costs shake out for this new format, but it's likely that 
our  rate will remain the same as before ($24 for 12 issues). An added note:  
naysayers thought subscribers wouldn't convert to online, but that hasn't been  
the case. So far, very few have chosen the other options available. If you 
are a  subscriber and haven't sent us your e-mail address yet, please do so now 
so we  can convert your subscription in time for the new issue.
 
Thanks,
 
Leslie Johnson
_editor at mississippirag.com_ (mailto:editor at mississippirag.com)   OR
_lesliemrag at aol.com_ (mailto:lesliemrag at aol.com)